Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. S.Ilhamgizi / Seventy-five cases of human trafficking have been registered in Azerbaijan within the first quarter of 2007, the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry reported during the meeting on the 'Current state on the struggle against human trafficking in Azerbaijan'.
The investigation examined seventy-two criminal cases. Some seventy-nine people have been made accountable. The identities of the twenty victims involved in the human trafficking cases have been released.
Some 211 cases of human trafficking were registered in Azerbaijan in 2006. A total of 207 people were made accountable regarding their connection with human trafficking involving eighty-six victims in 2006.
In 2006, twenty-seven registered crimes were connected with human trafficking, one for forced labour, fifty-eight for persuading people into prostitution, 114 for providing premises for the act of prostitution, seven for juvenile prostitution, and four for constraining victims so that they may be forced into having sex.
Four organized and twenty-three crime groups have been revealed as a result of operative measures.
Human trafficking provides a return interest of $ 9 or 12bln per year, the UN reported.
Some 1mln people become victims of human trafficking annually, UNICEF reported.